Speculation about civil, criminal misdeeds abounds about student voting in District 4

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 12:24 AM

In the six weeks prior to the Aug. 16 voter registration deadline, more than 300 residents joined the voter rolls in Tuscaloosa's District 4.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

In the six weeks prior to the Aug. 16 voter registration deadline, more than 300 residents joined the voter rolls in Tuscaloosa's District 4.The district consists of much of downtown, the residential historic districts north of 15th Street and all of the University of Alabama.With the university comes students — more than 33,000 as of last year — and new voters. Of those who registered to vote in the final six weeks, more than 80 listed an address that is on campus such as Magnolia Drive, also known as Sorority Row.The 2013 municipal election was held Tuesday, less than a month after students were allowed to begin moving in to their on-campus residence buildings.District 4 incumbent Board of Education member Kelly Horwitz, 45, was defeated by 26-year-old challenger Cason Kirby, last a student on the UA campus in 2012, by 72 votes — 399-327.City and state law require anyone who casts a ballot in a local jurisdiction to have lived in that district for at least 30 days.But when it comes to ensuring that all voters have met that requirement, the role of enforcement is not clear.The role of the Secretary of State's office, through the Board of Registrars, is to enforce the voter registration deadline, which is always 10 days before the election, while not allowing anyone who signs up after that date to qualify as a voter in the election.Sarah McFarland, a registrar in the local office, said the Board of Registrars sends a list of all voters who registered prior to the deadline to City Hall and that it is the city's role to enforce the 30-day residency rule.But City Clerk and 2013 municipal election manager Tracy Croom said it is not the city's responsibility to determine whether a voter lived here at least 30 days.In fact, she said, it's nobody's job.“We don't test residency,” Croom said. “Nobody tests residency. When I get a list from the Secretary of State, we don't test one name on there.”The only time the question is decided is when an election is contested in state judicial system. Then, the local Circuit Court has the authority to determine when each individual registered voter established residency in a particular location. When a similar question was posed before former Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Robert B. Harwood in 1997, he ruled that students only had to live in Tuscaloosa for 30 days. This meant that last year's freshman could vote without penalty in this year's election.These legal questions are civil in nature, but some questions raised over the 2013 municipal election could rise to the level of criminal charges.Ed Packard, director of elections for the Alabama Secretary of State, said two matters — allegations of nine students lying about their University Circle residency and a sorority's offer of free booze in exchange for voting — had been sent to the state Attorney General to determine whether they are worth of investigation.“Our office has referred some complaints,” Packard said.Joy Patterson, spokesperson for the Attorney General's office, said she could not confirm or deny any ongoing investigation, citing agency policy.Likewise, university officials had little to say regarding questions of voting malfeasance by its students.In response to questions whether UA was investigating any of the allegations of election improprieties by Greek organizations during Tuesday's election, Media Relations Director Cathy Andreen said, “allegations of voter fraud in the city election should be directed to — and will be investigated by — the appropriate election authorities.“Students who are found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.”But even election experts concede that confirming the residence of voters is often a task that goes unchecked until legally demanded.Robert L. McCurley Jr., the former head of the Alabama Law Institute and one of the authors of the Alabama Election Law Handbook, said it is technically the job of the election manager — the city clerk for municipal elections, the probate judge for all others — to ensure that each name on the officially published voter list does, in fact, meet all of the voter requirements.And while the voter registration form specifies many of the voting requirements — the voter must be a resident of the United States, live in Alabama, be at least 18 years old and not committed a right-nullifying felony, among others — it makes no mention of the 30-day residency requirement when it threatens charges of perjury for anyone who signs the document but does not meet all the stipulations.“The average voter who walks up to register,they don't know that,” McCurley said.A poll inspector has the authority to force a voter to submit a provisional ballot if the inspector has first-hand knowledge that the voter does not meet all the requirements.And the candidates have a right, after the election, to see who all submitted a ballot.Additionally, state law recognizes students as voters and requires the Board of Registrars to open temporary offices on campuses of more than 500 students for the purpose of registering them to vote.But determining who did and did not meet the 30-day requirement before casting a ballot in District 4 on Tuesday in an election decided by less than 80 votes still remains a question.“If you've never established Tuscaloosa as your permanent residency, then it's somewhere else. ..,” McCurley said. “But the issue of when they registered to vote is an issue to look at.”